Grammar Post #13

Trying to figure out whether to use who or whom may sometimes be a bit confusing. The only time I've used whom was to say: To whom it may concern. Are there other times when whom is correct over who? An easy way to decide which is correct is to use the he/him method. If the sencetnce sounds better saying he then use who, if him is more appropriate whom is correct. Just remember:
He=who
Him=whom
Who/Whom wrote the letter?
He wrote the letter. OR Him wrote the letter.
Obviously, He wrote the letter is correct. Therefore, Who is the correct term. By knowing this easy method, you can now eliminate some confusion when writing. Look at this website for more examples.

THE CRUCIBLE

I went to The Crucible on Thursday night. At first I was very excited to see it. I read the play in school and saw a high school preformance and really enjoyed them both. I was eager to see how Dixie would compare. The stage was set up into a more intimate setting. The bleachers were in a half circle enclosing the actors. It was neat to watch them so close. All the actors did an amazing job. Do you have to go to Dixie to be in the plays? A lot of them looked like they were to old. As the play progressed, it seemed like all they were doing was yelling every line. For me, it made it hard to understand what they were saying. Also there were times where the actors had their back turned towards you, again making it hard to understand. By intermission I had become restless. I loss my intereset in this THREE hour play.

Art Gallery Extra Credit

While walking around the Art Gallery a certain painting caught my eye. The painting "Cowgirls Dusk" by Rod Peterson is beautiful because of the colors, details, and it is inspiring. The colors in the sky are powerful and bold. The pink and purple mixed make a mesmerizing sunset. Every color captures the moment. You can see the passion Rod put into it. The classic blue car is detailed with care. Even though it takes up almost the whole picture, it does not take away from other focal points. To me this painting symbolizes inspiration and hope. Looking out over the falling night sky, this girl has time to reflect. Maybe feeling a lone she drives into isolation to find herself. Sometimes when I feel all alone or had a bad day, I like to look over the mountains or city lights. It gives me a chance to relax, think, and hope. I think that is what she is doing. Over coming a difficult time, trying to feel better and become stronger. She may be alone now, but she has hope for tomorrow.

Group Plan

As a group we discussed many topics that interested all of us about psychology. We looked at mental illnesses that effect the brain, how to evaluate if someone was mentally unstable, what drives a person to kill or commit crimes, symptoms that psychologist see most often like anger and depression, and many others. In the end we decided our research question would be, what are the different types of schizophrenia and their affects on the human brain. Promising sources that we are going to look at are the library academic databases, Encyclopedias, and school textbooks. We are setting multiple group meetings to work on the presentation as a team.

Psychology Topics

-Schooling: How much and where?
-How do they determine the mental stability of someone?
-Training: Learning to do racial profiling or body language?
-When are psychologist most needed?
-What is the average time length that most patients see a psychologist?
- What is the most common symptom that psychologists treat? Anger, depression....
-How does someone become mentally unstable? Brain malfunction or dramatic experiences?

Grammar Post #12

Sentences and Fragments

Alot of the time I write short sentences, thinking that I can state an idea faster. These sentences may not be complete sentences, only fragments. So what's the difference? Fragments do not contain a main clause. There are three essential parts to a sentence: subject, verb, and complete thought. They are pieces of a puzzle. Examples of fragments are:

And yawned loudly enough to make everyone in class turn around.

Subject = Ø ; verb = yawned; complete thought = Ø.

The boy sitting on the fire escape dropping water balloons on the pedestrians below.

Subject = boy; verb = Ø; complete thought = Ø.

After Gabriel ate half a box of Devil Dogs.

Subject = Gabriel; verb = ate; complete thought = Ø.

A way to fix fragments is to add more information or connect with another sentence. Knowing what kind of fragment you are dealing with will help as well. Subordinate clause, participle phrase, infinitive phrase, afterthought, lonely verb phrase, or appositive are all types of sentence fragments. Subordinate clauses can start with words like: because, since, unless, provided that, if, before, as, who, where, when, and many more.

Participle phrases start with a word ending in ing or ed. Infinitive phrases begin with to followed by a base verb: to watch, to catch. Words like especially, except, excluding, for example, for instance, including and like usually begin an afterthought. Lonely verbs are usually missing the subject and begin sentences with and, but, or, for, nor, yet, so. An appositive starts with a noun and has many clarifying phrase or subordinate clauses following. A slacker wastes his afternoon in front of the television is an example of an appositive.

Check out this website for more knowledge.

Dixie State and Cambridge Lecture

Professors Paul and Nancy started the lecture of with two beautiful music numbers on the piano and violin. The first song they played was Beethoven. It was amazing, makes me want to play an instrument. After they finished, a slide show was presented. Picture after picture of Europe was shown. My favorite was the one of McDonald's! Professor Mosley finally took the podium. He is a white haired English man who had been teaching at Cambridge University for nearly forty years. Many professors had left Oxford because of conflict and built Cambridge in 1209. Celebrating it's 800 year this year (2009). To this day Oxford is still their rivals. Cambridge has produced many Noble Prize winners, more than France. Pro. Mosley is a very entertaining lecturer. Even with his accent, his personality was humorous. Definitely someone I'd go listen to again.

Opposition Revision

New techniques are being developed. Skin cells are being turned into Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) that mimic embryonic cells. In addition, Adult, neonatal, cord blood or placental human stem cells, and animal stem cells are other sources that are not involved in the ethical debate. The use of embryonic stem cells may over shadow these alternative methods, resulting in the loss of research that may be as valuable. Why not use these methods? Government funding for alternative research on embryonic stem cells would be beneficial in the long run. By protecting Human Rights, these methods could be more ethical.